Long Night
by llUnholyll
Summary: As run of the mill Drug Busts go, all seamed to going off without a hitch, until Mar'is night took a turn for the worse ...


The dimly lit docks provided just enough light to see their opponents, though the progressing thunderstorm didn't help their cause as it began to heavily rain down on the vigilantes. Mar'i groaned as she became drenched in water and preceded to sideways glance at her father before disarming a nearby foe.

"You know i'm beginning to question your choice in crime fighting locations." Mar'i proclaimed, earning her a smirk from Nightwing as he spun around to kick another gang member. Knocking him back onto the wooden floor boards due the the slippery state it was in.

"hey don't blame me, Oracle's the one that picks these things" Nightwing remarked, gaining him an earful from Babs through the coms. Mar'i giggled, entertained and a little bit distracted.

"Duck!"

Yelled Dick as he cast one of his Emsrima sticks towards his daughter, narrowly missing her head and striking the thug behind her. Turning to face him Mar'i caught sight of the sheepish grin he gave her before both turning and immersing themselves back into the fight. With more than half of their oppenets down it looked like they would be done in no time, though luck was not in their favour today as things toke a turn for the worse.

The smell of burning rubber and the piercing sound of tires skidding drew the attention of the heroes as five black vans came to a screeching halt at the entrance of the docks. Mar'i and Dick exchanged looks, an unsure expression plastering both their facies. Nightwing taking control of the situation contacted Barbra, a much more serious demeanour covering him.

"Any reason the've about tripled in numbers?"

Nightwing uttered, face fixed in a frown waiting for a reply. The sound of typing could be heard over the coms as Barbra filled them both in.

"The shipment that you guys are preventing isn't your ordinary run of the mill drug bust, but seams to be one of the largest deals that was planed to take place. Looks like they had about 15 million riding on this. There very pissed to say the least."

"Great'" Mar'i sarcastically sighed, all she wanted to do was going home and snuggle with Damian but with this delay they wouldn't be back for a least a couple hours. Dick gave her a small smile in sympathy and then preceded to ask Barbra for backup, this was going to be a long night.

"Damian and Tim are in the area so i'll send them but notify me if you guys need more help."

They both nodded, turning to face the oncoming hoard head on. Mar'i began fighting them one on one, using her hand-to-hand combat training that her father had drilled into her, but the overwhelming numbers quickly rendered that strategy useless. Nightstar caught sight of more gang members rushing towards her, seaming to use the shear number to their advantage. She inhaled a sharp breath and tuned her emotions so that rage consumed her. Concentrating her starblot into one big mass at the centre of her hands. She let the ball of energy grow in size, a purple glow emulating from it. Feeling the warmth from her starblot her attackers stepped back, a look of dread covering their faces as Nightstar blasted the starbolt all around her, the vast expansion of energy causing many of the thugs to be flown back from the impact alone. Catching sight of a purple blast in his peripheral vision Nightwing turned his head to see Mar'i flying up above the mass of people around her, eyes glowing a brilliant green that reminded him so much of her mother. She began rapid firing at the criminals beneath her, dealing powerful strikes that made him proud. A smile graced his lips as he turned back, ready to drive head first into the action. The masked vigilante continued to take down the enemies surrounding him, delivering powerful blows through the implementation of his electrified weapon of choice. Striking to his left, Nightwing caught sight of two caped crusaders making their way towards the struggle. A small smile grew on his lips as he the added help would ensure them all heading home sooner.

Being stuck with Drake wasn't Damians ideal position having been stuck with him the entirety of the night and it being more than uneventful he consider ditching the imbecile all together and heading to Mar'i's location to see if she required any assistants. A habit that they found themselves committing quit often. Although with the radio in from Oracle he found himself not needing an excuse to see her. A wave of concern came onto him as he couldn't help but worry, reasuring himself Damian shrugged it off and began making his way to the docks. Upon arrival both Tim and Damian flung into action, not bothering to count the amount of thugs present as they where high. Damian paid particular interest in finding Mar'i, he scanned the docks for her, though she wasn't hard to spot shooting down into docs and landing with a bang. He smiled at the sight of his beloved, catching her eye as they both looked over each other longingly. Though Damian didn't have time to stare, swiftly side-stepping as a thug attempted hit him with his bat. Damian dodged again before kicking the weapon out of his hand and punched him square in the face. Knocking him unconscious and enabling him to deal with the oncoming attackers. Smirking to himself, he preceded to make quick calculated strikes at the dwindling number of thugs. All seamed to be going well until the deafening sound of a gunshot rung out, followed by a blood culturing scream.

Tim saw it happen, He saw her body fall to the floor and the blood pool around her. He called out to her in vain. Noticing the lack of an active shooter visible was alarming, this was planned. Knowing already that the situation would be dire he contacted Barbra, hoping that it wouldn't be too late.

Dicks head wiped around, the sound of his daughter in pain catching his attention. Emotions were exploding inside him, fear being the most dominant his heart began racing, almost as fast as he was sprinting to Mar'i. Having tunnel vision he failed to notice Damian running along side him an equally worried expression on his face.

Mar'i didn't know what happened, one minute she was taking down thugs left and right the next she felt a strong impact in her back that quickly turned into pain that shot up her spine as she collapsing onto the concrete, unable to brace herself from the harsh landing. The impact only worsened her pain causing the teenager to wince. Through pain was something she and many of the people around her were all too accustom too. The rhythmic repetition of rain drops some-what calmed her and cleared her mind enough for her attempt at movement. Regretting the choice immediately upon completion, the pain wasn't the thing that scared her. Utter horror overtook her , tears spilling out of her eyes which involuntarily grew wide. Her expression did not waver when three bodies surrounded her.

"Mar'i!" Isolated enough so no one could hear her real name Dick scurried to his daughters side, truely unnerved at Mar'is condition. Red dominated the scene, even with the contentious downpour, the rain seamed unable to keep up. The masked man looked for the bullet wound, following the blood to its origin with his eyes. Realisation dawning on him an concerning thought crossed his mind, calling to Mar'i once again urging to be proven wrong. Unresponsive, Damian's shakily took Mar'is hand into his own lightly squeezing it. Brought back to reality, Mar'i looked up at the two most important men in her life, gasping like a fish out of water she shut her eyes in vain to stop the on pour of tears.

"Mar'i?, Mar'i can you?.." Dicks voice came out horsed and strained.

"I can't, i can't feel my legs"


End file.
